Font Size Counts in Cars and Content

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More than two million Tesla vehicles are being recalled because of font size??  

It’s true. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, a recent safety compliance audit revealed that on a number of 2012-2023 models, the brake, park, and antilock brake warning lights have too small a font, making critical safety information simply too hard for drivers to read.

In any text, typography  helps users to  understand the organization and importance of content,  Ashish Kumar Tiwari explains in elearningindustry.com. The font is just one element we use in communicating information effectively so as to enhance the user experience, Tiwari adds. While the size of the font is important, spacing, line length, and alignment also play a part.

The goal, of course, in all printed or online material is to ensure that the content is easily readable and accessible to users, preventing eye strain and enabling effortless reading.  That involves using:

  • legible typefaces
  • appropriate font sizes
  • suitable spacing
  • hierarchy (bolded headings, for example, allow users to understand the organization of the content)

As a content marketer, I particularly appreciate the author’s emphasis on “ensuring sufficient color contrast between text and background”.

“Fonts play a crucial role in establishing an online brand’s visual identity,” Romain Juillet reminds business owners.  “In a highly competitive online market, the following cannot be repeated enough: first impressions really do matter.” Juillet explains the two main categories of font:

In serif fonts, the letters have extra strokes on the ends, are are considered to evoke a more formal, classic mood; sans serif fonts have no strokes, and are viewed as more casual and minimalist. (This Say It For You blog has always used the Arial sans serif font, which many consider ideal for digital content.)

Brands often use different fonts for different products. Coca-Cola, I learned years ago, chose different fonts for its Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero products. For us content writers for hire, the font we use should match the image projected on the client’s website. If the site is more traditional, we may want to use a more traditional serif font. If the client seems to project a more hip, modern look, the online content might be best presented in a sans serif font.

Serif or sans serif, Font size counts in cars and content marketing!

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Branding for Growth: Best Practices Every Small Business Owner Should Know

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A strong brand is crucial for businesses to stand out in today’s competitive market, as it leads to higher revenue and customer loyalty. This is especially important for small businesses as they tend to have fewer resources and rely heavily on customer satisfaction. In this blog post, we’ll look at the top branding best practices to help small business owners become industry leaders and achieve sustainable growth.

Discover and Reach Ideal Customers

In the journey of brand development, pinpointing your ideal customer base is a foundational step. This involves a deep dive into understanding not just who your customers are, but also what drives their decisions and preferences. By analyzing their demographics, such as age, gender, and location, and psychographics, including their values, interests, and lifestyle, you gain valuable insights. These insights enable you to tailor your branding strategy effectively. Comprehending their purchasing behavior, including how and why they buy, allows you to align your messaging and marketing efforts with their needs and preferences.

Possible Marketing Platforms

When it comes to reaching your target market, choosing the right marketing channels is crucial. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great for targeting younger audiences. Email marketing is a powerful tool for building relationships with existing customers, while traditional channels such as print ads, direct mail, and outdoor advertising can still be effective, depending on your target audience.

Develop a Brand Promise

Crafting a brand promise is a strategic process that entails pinpointing the core benefits and values your brand delivers to its customers. It’s about distilling these elements into a concise and engaging statement that encapsulates your brand’s commitment. This statement not only guides your external communications and marketing efforts but also acts as a north star for internal operations, including customer service and product development. It should be a reflection of what customers can consistently expect from your brand, fostering trust and setting the tone for their entire experience with your business.

Analyze Your Competition

For small business owners, understanding the competition is paramount. Business owners need to thoroughly research the branding efforts, marketing channels, and value proposition. Knowing what the competition is doing allows a business owner to create a unique brand that stands out, attracting loyal customers and building lasting brand recognition.

Color Scheme for Branding

The impact of choosing the right colors on customer purchasing decisions cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, small business owners must carefully consider the psychological effects of each color and how it aligns with their brand image. For example, blue portrays trust and reliability, while red is associated with excitement and energy. By applying a suitable color palette, entrepreneurs can effectively shape the way their brand is perceived by consumers.

Create Great Content

Small business owners can significantly boost their brand recognition and engage effectively with potential customers through the strategic use of content marketing. This involves creating and distributing informative and valuable content, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media posts. By consistently delivering high-quality content, small businesses can establish themselves as authoritative and trustworthy sources.

Establish a Consistent Tone

To create a strong brand, it’s vital to establish a unified voice. Consistency in the brand’s messaging enables customers to understand what the brand represents. Small business owners can deploy the same tone of voice across all marketing channels, including social media and email marketing, to connect with their customers. A consistent brand voice can help foster robust and long-term relationships with customers.

Expand Your Business Knowledge

For small business owners, education plays a crucial role in fostering expansion and success. Engaging in business courses significantly enhances their skills in marketing and advertising, which are pivotal for the growth and visibility of their ventures. Additionally, considering an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) can be a strategic move. Such programs are designed to accommodate the busy schedules of business owners, allowing them to balance their educational aspirations with the demands of running their company. This approach not only provides a deeper understanding of business principles but also equips them with the latest knowledge and trends in the business world.

In today’s competitive business landscape, building a strong brand can mean the difference between success and failure for small businesses. From defining a unique value proposition to developing a brand promise, every aspect of branding counts. Small business owners who prioritize branding as a crucial aspect of their business strategy can establish a distinctive identity, connect with their customers, and ultimately drive growth and profitability

Today’s guest post was contributed by Candace Sigmon of At Home Helper. Candace may be reached at csigmon@athomehelper.com.

 

 

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Use Unlikely Comparisons as a Teaching Tool

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“From turtle doves to lords-a-leaping, the price of the ’12 Days of Christmas’ just hit a record high,” CNN observed in what I found to be a wonderfully effective use of an unlikely comparison to make an important point. In fact, every year, PNC Financial Services publishes the Christmas Price Index, measuring the average change in price for each of the items in the classic Christmas song. The tongue-in-cheek index, CNN explains, is meant “to highlight market changes over time while educating consumers about the economy”.

Years ago, I’d read a review of a band playing at a restaurant near me on Halloween, telling how this band was able to keep the crowd dancing and singing along. The reviewer had mentioned something that I continue to think is good advice for content writers: “It was especially fun to see Tammy dancing with Elvis, and a ladybug dancing with a monster”. To help capture interest, we suggest at Say It For You, put “ingredients” together that don’t seem to match.  In fact, suggesting a totally new way of using your product or service may open up new possibilities for that potential customer to do business with you.

“Turns of phrase catch readers by the curiosity,” I realized years ago. Putting ingredients together that don’t seem to match is not only an excellent tool for creating engaging business blog content, but also a good teaching tool. Going from what is familiar to readers to the unfamiliar area of your own expertise, allows your potential customers to feel smart as well as understood.

The caveat though, is that, when it comes to blog content writing, misdirection needs to end up by offering direction; if it’s overdone or too far-fetched, it can come across as “bait ‘n switch”. The unlikely comparison must clarify and help readers get the answers they came to find.

The 12 days of Christmas price index being up again concept sparked my curiosity, but, since turtledoves and French hens are not on my shopping list, the fact they’ve risen in price doesn’t really reflect my own buying patterns. Still, learning that 2023 was the first year in history in which the cost of buying all the gifts in the song passed $200,000 – that got my attention. I was now ready to learn about retail sales, wage growth, savings rates, and consumer sentiment….

Try using unlikely comparisons as teaching tools in your blog posts.

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Arming Your Blog With the 4 A’s

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“Use the four A’s – Acronym, Analogy, Anecdote, Alliteration – to catch the reporter’s ear and help the reader remember what you said,” Janet Falk of Falk Communications and Research advises business professionals going to a conference.

Acronyms
While Sharif Khan, writing in the American Marketing Association’s Business Writing Tips for Professionals thinks readers might find company acronyms annoying, at Say It For You, our content writers use acronyms to add variety, presenting information to readers in a different way.

Analogies
Matching our writing to our intended audience is part of the challenge we business blog content writers face. Using an analogy to link an unfamiliar concept to something that is familiar can help the reader better comprehend what we’re trying to say. For example, blogging can be compared to a parhelion (an atmospheric optical illusion consisting of halos of light around the sun, showcasing rather than obliterating the shine). Approaching the same topic in different ways can help your content appeal to different audiences, still highlighting the central message.

Anecdotes
Stay alert for anecdotes about customers, employees, or friends who are doing interesting things or overcoming obstacles. Real-people stories of you, your people, and the people you serve are always a good idea in your business blog. Anecdotes and examples lend variety to the blog, even though the anecdotes are being used to reinforce the same few core ideas.

To demonstrate that you understand the problems the online searcher is dealing with, it can be highly effective to relate how you personally went through the same failure stages. Next best to the business owner or professional relating an “I” experience which drives their passion, is anecdotes and testimonials from employees, customers, or vendors..

Alliteration
Using alliteration (consonant repetition) and assonance (vowel repetition) in blog titles has the effect of making those titles more “catchy”. In a sense, readers’ are both seeing the repetition and “hearing it”. Making a subtle but strong impact on readers is is precisely the focus of our content work at Say It For You is all about.

Content writers, try arming your blog posts with the 4 A’s!

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Make Them See What You Mean – Put the Right Pictures With the Right Words

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(Guest co-author: David Kale with imagery from Kale Design, Inc.)

David’s passion for creating fine art is grounded in his belief that every single mark on the canvas matters. Abstract or realistic, for a piece of artwork to communicate successfully, it must embody three key principles:

  1. Graphic impact:  (focusing attention and hitting the viewer “between the eyes”)
  2. Design sensibility: (making sure the design utilizes all the medium has to offer)
  3. Totality: (delivering the message  so that it holds together in and of itself, as well as with the other assets)

When artwork (photos, graphics, and illustrations) is used in advertising and marketing communications, these parameters become even more critical, since today’s viewers are bombarded with so many different stimuli.

While the content we create for our Say It For You clients is presented in the form of words, we know that the more closely the images accompanying  the text combine to affect the audience’s hearts and minds, the better chance our clients will have of making their enterprise stand out relative to its competitors.

Kale elaborates on this effect: “When the intended message of an image harmonizes with the keywords in the headline and text of a a blog/article, website, video, advertisement, brochure, postcard, video, or trade show display), there is a better chance of engaging the audience’s attention not merely for moments, but of connecting with them on a much deeper level.”

Just as is true for artwork, to communicate successfully, content must aim to embody those same key principles:

IMPACT

 

 

At Say It For You, we prefer “I-you” (first person to second person  pronouns) writing because of its power to create impact, revealing the personality  of the “I’ behind the posts, ready to serve “you” (the reader).

SENSIBILITY

 

 

 

At its best, a blog post will   demonstrate a uniquely  sensitive approach to  the needs and  concerns of searchers, showing that those very needs and concerns are what has motivated  the owner or practitioners to make their product or service more user-friendly..

TOTALITY

 

 

 

When it comes to blogging, we at Say It For You firmly believe in “the Power of One”, with one core message delivered in each post. The content must be focused on one audience, with one desired (and well-defined) outcome.

At Say It For You, we agree with David Kale’s maxim:  Great words and wonderful pictures love to “dance together” — from conception to completion!

 

 

David Kale, founder and owner of Kale Design, Inc. helps businesses and entrepreneurs with creative thinking for their branding marketing, advertising, website graphic, printing, and trade show design.

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